Encased in Ice
by Marchling
Summary: Matt knew from the moment he had fallen into the icy water that he was in trouble. He barely makes it to Foggy, half frozen to death and fading fast, but Foggy will never give up on him easily. [Gen but probably pre-slash - Shaky medical facts within]


**_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_**

 ** _Encased in Ice_** ** _ _-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-__**

 _ _Matt knew from the moment he had fallen into the icy water that he was in trouble. He barely makes it to Foggy, half frozen to death and fading fast, but Foggy will never give up on him easily.__

* * *

 _Just keep walking._

 _Get home._

 _Don't fall asleep._

Matt had repeated the same instructions in his head over and over again. He knew from the moment he had fallen into the icy water that he was in trouble. It was too cold to survive in long and even when he got himself out, the temperature made it hard for him to focus enough to get home.

 _Home's too far away._

His tired mind wrapped itself around the distance he had left to his apartment and sighed. He could feel that sigh all the way down his body, in his bones and through his muscles. He leaned against a wall and didn't even feel the press of it against his body. The only reason he knew he was against it was because he wasn't falling.

Oh, but he _was_ falling. He was sliding down the wall and curling up against something made of frozen metal.

 _Get up._

 _Get up._

 _You're dying, get up._

Matt felt the tremors start to slow. Distantly, he knew that wasn't good.

 _Get out of the snow._

Was it snowing again? It was; he could feel the muffling presence of it. When had that started?

 _You're too close to give up now._

But he wasn't. His apartment was so far away. He counted out a breath or two or ten and tucked his head down against his chest.

 _Home is just a block away and up. That's so close. It would be weak to give up now._

Matt tried to push himself back up but his legs felt numb and disconnected. He barely moved. His head demanded he try again and so he did. He made it halfway before his legs stopped obeying and he sat back down with an abrupt thud. His teeth bit into his lip and he felt a trickle of his own somehow warm blood run down his chin.

He tried again. And fell. And tried again.

He finally stood shakily, most of his weight rested on the wall, but he was on his feet and he took a halting step forward.

 _Keep moving._

And he did. He reached his building mostly by staggering forward and when he was finally there he put his hands out to find the way in. His frozen fingers could barely grip the fire escape ladder enough to pull himself up. The rungs felt like they were coated in slippery ice and he kept losing his grip. Making his way up was slow and almost more than he had to give. Once he was finally on the right landing, he leaned outside his window and let his head drop against it with a dull thud. He would open it. He would open it in a minute.

The window slid up, slowly, just enough to nudge his face.

"Matt?"

Matt didn't move. Warm air escaped through the open window and the feeling of it tickled his skin.

"Matt, dude, it's way too cold for this. Come in."

 _Foggy._

 _Home._

 _Made it._

Matt started falling again.

"Whoa!"

The window opened more and hands barely slowed his fall.

" _Shit_ , oh shit, you're frozen." Warm hands tugged at him, tried to get up him up and over the wall and into the room. Matt's legs slipped against the fire escape and Foggy's awkward position didn't give him enough leverage to heave Matt over. "Hey, help me here, Matt." Foggy ordered as he tried.

He couldn't move, not anymore. He could hear Foggy's heart start to pound as he pulled at Matt in his slouched position, "Come on, Matt. Stand up!"

 _Help him. Help him so he can help you._

Matt was done. Getting home had taken everything he had.

He sank down the rest of the wall until he was nearly folded in half and heard Foggy curse with a voice so shaky he knew his friend was freaking out.

"This isn't good. This really isn't good." Foggy muttered under his breath. He scrambled out of his own window and climbed over Matt's sprawled out body. Then he just stood next to Matt, the two of them barely fitting together on the narrow platform. Not enough room to move around, "Matt, you have to get up!" Hands reached under Matt's side and pulled him back upright. "Listen to me… Are you listening?"

"Foggy." Matt whispered through bloody, numb lips.

"Are you listening, Matty?" Foggy repeated. He used his free hand to prop Matt's head up, as though that mattered. "I'm going to count to three and we're going to stand up, okay? I'm going to help you and you're going to stand up, Matt."

Matt didn't answer and he felt Foggy use his shoulder to support his head and his freed hand tried to pull Matt's legs into some sort of crouch he could push himself up from.

"We're going to stand up, we're going to stand up on three." Foggy chanted.

"Foggy." Matt repeated.

"I'm here. We're okay. You ready, buddy? One, two, three." Foggy said. Matt felt the arms around him pull and he started rising up without any effort on his part. Then Foggy's foot slipped on the wet metal and they were both back down against the metal grating with a hollow thud.

"Damn it!" Foggy swore. He gathered Matt's icy body back against his own and let out a shuddering breath against Matt's ear. "Matty, you have to try. I can't get you in by myself. Please, you have to try."

Matt could taste the salt of his panicked tears, even through the taste of his own blood and the cold snow. He hated when Foggy cried.

He shifted his legs and gasped when he felt the numb meat of his feet press down against the platform. "One…" He whispered.

Foggy heard. He braced himself better and wrapped his arms under Matt's. "Two, three, up!"

Together they got Matt up enough that he could stick his upper body through the window and sort of fall in. He didn't feel the impact but he heard Foggy's reaction to it.

"God, Matt." Foggy came through the window and then his hands hooked under Matt's arms and he pulled him far enough forward that his legs came the rest of the way through the window and then he heard it shut.

He laid gasping on Foggy's floor, trying to catch his breath. The helmet came off and Foggy's hands pressed against his cheeks. They felt like hot brands against his skin, _too_ hot. "I'm going to get you out of the suit and then we're going to call Claire, okay? I'm going to get you warmed up, buddy. Don't worry."

Matt wasn't worried.

He heard Foggy's hands moving around him, pulling buckles and zippers, but he didn't feel it. The suit peeling away left soaked, frozen skin exposed to the air and Matt realized his face had screwed up in pain.

"Matty, talk to me." Foggy begged. He was down by Matt's feet. "What happened?"

"I-I do-don't know." Matt whispered.

But that wasn't right. He _did_ know. He had been there. So what had happened?

"That's okay." Foggy said. There was a thud as he threw a boot aside. "That's fine." Another boot flew. "I'm getting a towel. You're all wet."

His footsteps were rushed, frantic. Matt's eyes closed and he tried to focus on the air in his lungs. He couldn't get enough, like his chest had a layer of ice around it and couldn't expand far enough.

 _So tired…_

Suddenly, Foggy was kneeling beside him and there was a towel over his stomach and he felt drier. When had that happened?

"Matt! Matt, answer me!"

"Fog-Foggy." Matt gasped. A split second of time for him but he'd lost the minutes that went along with it.

"Claire!" Foggy said and Matt took too long to realize he was talking into his phone. He hadn't even noticed. "He's awake. I got him dried off and he's not shivering, but he's really really cold."

" _Shit, that's not good."_

"What, what's not good?" Foggy asked.

" _He needs to be shivering. If he's not it means his body is shutting down."_

Foggy's heard jolted.

" _You have to get him warmed up. Focus on his trunk first, not his limbs, or you could shock his heart. Blankets, dry clothes, a warm drink that doesn't include caffeine or alcohol."_ Claire sounded like she was afraid to forget some vital instruction, she was speaking so quickly, " _Pay attention to how he's breathing. Don't put him in a tub of warm water. Try and keep him awake until he starts shivering. And I know it's not the priority until you get him warmed up but try to figure out what happened. If he took a hit and passed out in the snow, that needs to be taken care of too."_

"Okay," Foggy said slowly, "Okay, I can do that. Are you coming?"

" _I'm at a friend's place, too far away. Keep calling me, though. I'll help talk you through it."_ There was serious regret in Claire's voice.

"I will." Foggy promised. "Bye." He set his phone down and was up in the same instant. "Clothes, okay, clothes. A Columbia sweatshirt solves everything, right?" He called from his bedroom.

Matt weakly moved his head towards the sound of Foggy's voice. He was so tired.

"You're going to feel better soon. " Foggy called. His feet pounded on the floor and he dropped back down next to him. "Let's get these on you, okay?" Foggy moved him around and warm fabric slid against his body, worn enough that normally it wouldn't hurt but instead felt knives. To get him in the sweatshirt, Foggy pulled him up so he leaned against his chest again. Once Matt was encased in Foggy's warmest clothes, Foggy just stopped with his arms wrapped around him. He rubbed up and down Matt's back, "You're okay. You're going to be fine. Don't you dare be anything but fine, okay?"

"Okay." Matt whispered. He heard Foggy sort of laugh softly in response.

"If I helped you, do you think you could get to my bed?" Foggy asked.

"No." Matt answered honestly.

"Nest on the ground, then, that's okay too." Foggy said with a shaky false-brightness. "I'm going to go get you blankets. Stay awake, promise me."

It should have been a little, easy thing to give Foggy, but he couldn't. He couldn't swear to it. "Try." He offered instead.

"Shit." Foggy said. He laid Matt back down gently and yanked a knitted throw from the back of his couch to spread it over him. "Stay awake. Please." He got up and took off running.

Matt tried to keep his eyes open, not because it made a difference in keeping him awake but because it made Foggy feel better. His friend's fear was more of a presence in the room than Matt himself was.

He was so tired.

"Foggy…" He called almost silently. Foggy wasn't him, though, so he didn't hear. His eyes fluttered shut and he pulled in a shallow breath that made staying awake seem even more impossible.

More blankets dropped down on top of him, some smelt like Foggy and some smelt more like the stale air of a closet. He hadn't heard Foggy coming, again.

"No, no, no, Matt! Don't go to sleep. Matt, open your eyes!" Foggy nearly shouted. He shook Matt's shoulder. "Matty, please."

The blankets spread over him, instead of the clump Foggy had dropped them in. For possibly the first time since his accident it was the weight that registered first, not the textures of the blankets. His skin felt like it was taking in no real input, like he was down another sense.

Foggy's hands were against his sides, one under the blankets and the other on top. He rubbed briskly and Matt heard it more than felt it. "Matt, wake up."

"Mmm," Matt hummed in answer.

Foggy leaned down and pressed his cheek to Matt's forehead like he wanted to warm up as much of him as he could at the same time, like he couldn't bear not to be trying. "Don't do this, Matty. Open your eyes."

Matt couldn't.

Foggy let out a sob that cut into Matt's whole body. "Shit, shit. I should get my mattress. You'd be warmer off the floor but I'm afraid to move. What if I come back and you're… Fuck, Matt."

Lips pressed against his forehead and then Foggy was gone. Distantly, Matt heard a crash in his bedroom. He counted his own breaths and Foggy started sounding farther and farther away.

 _Stay._

 _Don't let him come back and find a corpse._

Something heavy crashed into his leg and startled him.

"Matt?" Foggy was back and he was still moving something. Hand slid under him and his blanket nest then suddenly he was up and over and the motion made his breath catch in his chest. "Sorry, sorry, buddy. Shh, just breathe okay? Just keep breathing and I'll do everything else."

Foggy tucked the blankets closer around him. His phone rang and Matt heard him fumble to answer. "Claire?"

" _How is he?"_

"I don't know. He's still not shivering and he's breathing really slowly. He's unconscious, I think."

" _Did you get him dried off?_ "

Foggy's hand pressed against Matt's cheek, "Yeah, he's in like the warmest clothes I've got, I couldn't carry him to my bed because the mere thought of accidentally dropping him is making me nauseous so I brought the mattress to him and he's on it with a bunch of blankets… Claire, _he's still not shivering_." He repeated, his voice breaking.

Claire took a deep breath that Matt could hear through the line. " _Get in bed beside him. Body heat helps."_

Neither one of them seemed able to say the word they were obviously both thinking out loud.

Foggy pulled the blankets up on one side and Matt felt the bite of the colder air. For the first time, he realized he was warmer under the covers. Then Foggy's body was pressed against his side and Matt felt the heat of the contact. Foggy's arms wrapped around him and he was turned on his side so they were pressed chest to chest. "How's that, Matt?"

" _I want you to focus on him, so I'm going to let you go now. I'll call back soon. Remember, focus on his torso first. We don't want to shock his heart. When he starts shivering and getting feeling back, he's probably going to shake really hard, Foggy. It's going to hurt and he might even try to get out of the blankets if he's out of it. Don't let him, even if he says it burns, okay?"_

"Got it, Claire. I'm buying you so many drinks when we get out of this." Foggy promised.

" _Matt can buy them for us himself."_

Foggy laughed and Matt felt it against his neck. Then Claire was gone and it was just Matt and Foggy again. "Gimme a sign here, Matty." Foggy begged. One of his hands slid under Matt's sweatshirt so he could slide it against Matt's bare skin and the other ran through his hair for a few minutes before leaving to wrap around his shoulders. Foggy thought he'd hit his head, he realized.

The minutes passed and Matt laid still against Foggy and tried to focus on getting air in and out. Foggy kept talking and Matt listened but he didn't really register the words. He didn't think he was especially meant to either. Foggy was just giving him something to anchor himself to and Matt was grateful.

He was grateful for how warm Foggy was, too.

"That's it, Matt. Fuck, finally." Foggy whispered.

Matt realized he'd started shaking just a little. Foggy's hands kept rubbing his skin, trying to force warmth back in via friction or something. His skin itched under the path of Foggy's hands.

"You really need to embrace the idea of 'phone a friend', Matt. I would come, if you needed me." Foggy said, as though that would ever be safe. "No laying in snow slowly dying."

The shaking started intensifying, sensation returning with stinging clarity. His hands and feet tingled and it _hurt._ Foggy kept them pressed together, his heartbeat thundering against Matt's chest. He was still scared. Matt was finally warming up but Foggy was still scared. He hated that. He hated that he made Foggy so afraid sometimes.

"At least you came here. I know your apartment doesn't have near as many cozy blankets as mine does." Foggy gave him a gentle laugh. "Wow, you're really shaking. We're getting there, buddy."

"F-foggy…" Matt whimpered. His whole body was on fire. Something was really wrong.

"That's it, Matty, I know it doesn't feel it, but this is good. Claire said this is good." Foggy encouraged. His breath was hot against Matt's neck and his arms seemed like the only things keeping Matt from shaking into pieces.

Sensation returning wasn't the blessing Matt had hoped it would be. He huddled against Foggy and rode out the waves of pain.

"I know, Matt. I know. It'll stop once we get you warm again. Jesus, you're still so cold." Foggy said. Matt wasn't sure he felt cold at all. He couldn't really interpret how his skin felt anymore. "I'm going to get up and get you something hot to drink, okay?"

"Stay." Matt begged. He felt like he was having a seizure he was shaking so badly.

"Okay, sweetheart." Foggy whispered back, "I'll stay another minute but I really need to get you something to drink. What sounds good, Matty?"

He didn't care.

"Hot chocolate? I might have some of your nasty tea but I don't know if it's got caffeine in it. Maybe just some hot water with lemon?" Foggy asked. "Matt, I don't feel any bumps on your head but Claire wants me to ask. Did you get hit and pass out in the snow, do you think?"

"N-no." Matt answered. His head felt a little clearer. "Fel-l in wa-water."

"…In _water_?" Foggy repeated slowly, "Matt, it's January."

He had noticed.

Foggy had only promised to stay with him for another minute but it felt like longer. He wasn't sure. When Foggy pulled away, Matt tried not to make a sound.

"Let's try some hot water with lemon and honey, okay? Talk to me, Matty." Foggy called as he went to the kitchen.

"'Kay." Matt said back, more quietly than Foggy had been.

"Keep my spot warm, buddy." Foggy reminded. The door to the microwave opened and closed and then Foggy was beside him again, like he didn't trust Matt to keep breathing with his back turned for even a moment. He pressed his hand against Matt's ear and hissed when he felt it, "Okay, well, your ear defrosted."

"Hurts." Matt complained.

Foggy made sympathetic sounds, "I bet, it's really hot."

The microwave beeped and Foggy was gone again. When he came back, he slid into the blankets behind Matt and helped him sit up against him. "Drink some of this, Matty." He pressed the rim of the mug against Matt's lips. For once Matt didn't even consider protesting and trying to hold it himself. His hands were too tangled in clothes and blankets and even if he got them out they'd shake and spill it.

Matt opened his mouth and his teeth clanked against the rim from his shivering but he managed to take a sip and then another when Foggy made a pleased sound. He could feel each swallow make a trail of heat all the way down to his stomach. He kept at it slowly, draining the mug a third of the way down.

"That's good. Can you drink some more?" Foggy asked in a way that suggested he was still just talking for the both of them even though Matt had started answering him again.

Instead of doing what Foggy asked, Matt leaned his head back against Foggy's shoulder and panted. "R-really hurts." He slid his burning foot out of the too-warm cocoon Foggy had him in.

"Hey, get that foot back in there." Foggy ordered.

"Bur-rns." Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew that wasn't true. He knew he was still really cold, that this was just his skin thawing out but it didn't matter. His nerves were on fire and if he had to keep himself so warm he might burst into flames. Matt bit his lip then hissed when he realized it was already a little torn. When had that happened?

Foggy slid out from behind him and eased Matt back down. He moved quickly and gently shoved Matt's foot back into the blankets before he tightly tucked his feet in for good measure. "I know it hurts but you have to stay under there. You'll get through this part… _soon_ and… Well, um, let's call Claire and ask."

Foggy scooped his phone back up and crawled up the mattress to stretch out next to Matt. Claire answered almost on the first ring.

" _What's happening?"_ Her voice was tense and anxious in a way that Matt didn't normally hear. He wasn't sure if it was because of where she had left off in the situation on the last call or because she wasn't the one fixing him herself.

"Hi Claire." Foggy rubbed his hand over Matt's shoulder while he talked, _"_ We're in the fun burning stage and Matty would like to know how long he's going to be enjoying it?" He asked conversationally. Matt gave him a shaky smile as best he could.

Claire sighed in what Matt figured was relief, _"There's not a strict timeline here. It won't last forever, though. With his senses I really can't guess."_

"That's not what we were hoping you'd say." Foggy said playfully, as if his hand wasn't still sort of trembling with leftover adrenalin and fear on Matt's shoulder.

Matt turned onto his side closest to Foggy and curled up his legs. His muscles protested but the movement felt good.

" _Tell me what else is going on."_ Claire asked.

"He's not the white and blue frigid mess he was before anymore." Foggy said and Matt hadn't even considered that he might have looked like that. "He's shaking like you said. His ears and his fingers feel hot. I figure his toes too but he's wearing socks so I can't tell."

" _Breathing okay? Any confusion?"_

"Breathing better. Kind of rushed now, though, because of the shivering I think?" Foggy reported.

" _Probably, but keep an eye on it. If it doesn't get better when the shaking dies down then we've got other problems."_

"Okay. And he's not really talking a lot, so I don't know how confused he is." Foggy said before he exclaimed,"Oh! But I asked him about what happened and he remembers falling into water. Before he said he didn't know what happened."

" _Into water? Jesus. Am I on speakerphone?"_

Foggy nodded, "You are, but I'm pretty sure he could hear you anyway."

" _I know but I want to ask him some questions and actually hear his answers."_ Claire said. Even still, she pitched her voice louder for him, _"Matt? Do you hear me?"_

"Yes." He answered. He tried his best to keep his voice from breaking on the single syllable. It was a near thing.

" _Where are you right now?"_

"Um, h-home." Matt answered but he realized that was wrong almost immediately. "No, a-at Fo-ggy's."

He remembered now, how sure he was that he was going to die because home was too far away before he 'realized' that home was closer than he had thought. It hadn't been, except that it sort of had. Foggy was home, even if Matt didn't live with him anymore.

" _Do you remember what day it is?"_

"Th-thursd-ay." Matt stuttered. "Ten-th."

"Well, it's definitely Friday now but I think we can forgive you." Foggy said. "Speaking of, we should call Karen because we are so not going to the office today."

" _Matt,"_ Claire broke in with a smile in her voice. " _Where did I first see you?"_

"D-dumpster." Matt answered easily. Hopefully, it would remain his most unique way of meeting someone.

" _Does anything hurt? Are you injured anywhere?"_

Everything hurt but he knew that wasn't what she meant. His lip hurt now that he had discovered the injury but obviously not in a life threatening way. "No."

" _I want you to think about it longer. Really take stock."_

Matt tried to do what she asked, to close his eyes and breathe and _listen_ , but that was too much. He wasn't confused but she was asking for more focus than he had in him. "Do-n't know."

" _That's okay."_ She backed down instantly, _"Foggy, did you see anything wrong? Besides the obvious?"_

Foggy shook his head, "No, a few bruises that looked fresh but those were on his arm and didn't look major. That cut from the weekend didn't tear back open, even though it got wet. _Really_ wet."

" _Matt, if you realize something's messed up, you need to tell Foggy immediately, okay?"_

"Yeah." Matt promised.

"So, is sleeping back on the table?" Foggy asked.

" _I would wake him up periodically to check in on him, but yes, I think sleeping is safe at this point."_

Matt might have been willing to kiss the both of them in thanks. Checking out of the burning pain in his skin sounded wonderful and he didn't think it would be hard to achieve either. Every muscle he had felt heavy and wrung out. He closed his eyes.

"Okay, he drank some water but not a lot so I'll get him to finish and then…"

But Matt was already asleep.

 _ **-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**_

"Matty… Matt, can you wake up?"

Matt opened his eyes slowly and had to blink a few times to keep them up. He rubbed his face with his hand and tried to wake himself the rest of the way. "Foggy?"

"Another half an hour, as promised." Foggy said quietly. His hand squeezed Matt's blanket covered shoulder.

"What?" Matt asked. Slowly he uncurled his legs and turned onto his back.

Foggy laughed a little, "I'm choosing to find it cute instead of really worrying that you don't remember begging to sleep a little longer when I tried to wake you up before."

"Don't remember." Matt admitted as if it wasn't obvious by then. He believed it, though, because he couldn't remember the last time he was as tired as he was right then, the last time that his body felt so heavy.

"I got that, yeah." Foggy said, "How are you feeling otherwise?"

Matt hummed a little and considered the question. "Cold but not like before. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"Well, that's a goddamn relief, huh?" Foggy said seriously.

He stretched his senses out further. It was daytime now and definitely a snow day. Matt could hear the snow and the shovels and the plows and the children playing, all of it adding up to something that was fun but not truly a problem. Maybe a foot, max. Foggy had recently taken a shower and he had something keeping warm on the stove. Oatmeal? In his hands he had a mug of tea with honey that Matt was incredibly interested in.

"That for me?" He asked.

Foggy laughed, "Yeah, you bloodhound. Think you can sit up and drink it yourself this time?" The question was teasing, but done gently enough that Matt knew that if the answer was even slightly close to no Foggy would happily help him drink it or straight up feed it to him and he'd do it without any sort of shaming involved.

The couch was right behind him, he realized. He wasn't so sure he could walk around unassisted yet but he could definitely lean against a couch and sip some tea. He wasn't _that_ weak.

So he pushed himself up on only slightly jelly-like arms and leaned back slowly. Foggy quickly shoved a pillow behind him. His covers slipped down and Matt could deal with the slightly colder air of Foggy's apartment, especially since Foggy seemed to have cranked the heat up at some point.

The mug of tea was passed with hovering hands and Matt took an experimental sip. Not too hot, not too cold, not too much honey. He sighed with pleasure.

"It's just tea, buddy." Foggy said.

Matt smiled at him, "I was thirsty."

"Huh, then maybe you should have drank what I tried to give you last night and not tried to re-freeze your foot." Foggy chided. He shifted beside Matt until he was sitting cross legged on his right. "And then fallen asleep the literal second Claire said you could. I was going to get you to drink some more."

Matt took another sip, "It was everything I could do not to rip my skin off it burned so bad. And itched, weirdly. I knew I needed to not but…" He shrugged.

"I know." Foggy said simply. Matt felt worse than he could say that Foggy had seen all that. "It looked pretty painful."

He shrugged again. "I'm really sorry, Foggy."

"I'm not." Foggy said. "Seeing you hurt sucks but I'd so much rather see it and help you through it than the alternatives, buddy."

Matt ducked his head and gave Foggy something that was probably the ugly point between a smile and a grimace, "Thank you."

"No thanks needed, other than in the form of libations." Foggy nudged his shoulder. "But we'll have to wait until Claire is back home because the three of us need to get wasted together."

Matt agreed. He vaguely remembered that Foggy and Claire had decided he was going to buy them drinks sometime last night. He owed them a hell of a lot more than drinks. "Where was she, by the way?"

"At a friend's house like halfway across the city. With the snow she would have taken way too long to get here for me to wait for her." Foggy said. "It was a good thing I called her, though, because my first instinct was alcohol and a hot bath. Maybe a spin in my microwave on the defrost setting."

So pretty much everything Claire wouldn't have approved of and mostly Matt's first thoughts too although he had sort of an idea that alcohol and hypothermia didn't mix so he was a slight step up from Foggy.

"Unfortunately," Foggy continued, "We haven't covered hypothermia treatment in any of the first aid courses I've taken."

That was a surprise. "What?"

"What, you thought I was just getting naturally good at cleaning you up?" Foggy said, "I am a man of learning, Matt. I've taken first aid courses, I'm now certified in CPR, my search history is getting worrying and Claire isn't even making fun of the weird medical questions I text her in the middle of the day anymore."

"I, um, I didn't realize." Matt admitted. He felt like kind of a jerk for it too. Foggy was giving up enough of his time and sleep to help him when he needed it and now he was doing all of that as well?

"I sense the Catholic guilt welling up inside you, Matt," Foggy said. He plucked the mug from Matt's hands and he was startled to realize he'd finished it and not realized. "So let me cut you off and say it again – I much, much rather you show up on my fire escape frozen solid than curl up in an alley and die or go to your place and die. I cannot overemphasize how much I prefer you come here."

"I wouldn't have died," Matt protested but he knew the lie when he said it.

Foggy got up from the ground and moved away from him, "I think even you know that's not true. I don't know how much you remember from last night but you were not in good shape."

He remembered. He remembered Foggy's worry and tears and his own drifting thoughts.

The scent of oatmeal became stronger. Foggy was dishing up a bowl of it and walking back over to him. Oatmeal wasn't normally something Matt ate, not because of taste but because of how heavy it was, but in light of what Foggy had just told him and what he had already put his friend through, there was no way in the world he was going to argue. He accepted the warm bowl with a muttered "Thank you."

Foggy sat back down beside him with his own bowl, "Okay, so we agree that you made it here with like minutes to spare, so let's decide where you went wrong so we can avoid death by hypothermia in the future."

"It won't happen again." Matt protested. "I don't normally fight by the water and I wasn't expecting that guy to throw himself at me. Most people avoid falling in so it was kind of a weird strategy."

"Was he alone?" Foggy asked.

Matt shook his head, "No, there were four of them."

"Then it was a perfect strategy for someone as unconcerned with life expectancy as you. You both go in the water, it stops you immediately, he gets fished out by friends who can quickly take care of the situation while you're left having to walk home through snow, _if_ you even manage to get out quickly enough." Foggy explained. "So, again, what can you do differently next time to avoid possible death?"

It was obvious what Foggy wanted him to say, that he would call him if he was in that bad of a state again, but Matt didn't want to put Foggy at risk like that.

"Foggy, even if coming to get me was a safe thing for you to do, I was so out of it that my phone didn't even occur to me." Matt said, "I also don't know if it's working, actually."

"It isn't but if you had taken it out right away you might have had a chance." Foggy said stubbornly. "And dunks in water aside, there are other situations that this conversation could apply to."

Matt started to set down his bowl but Foggy caught the bottom and pushed it back up, "No way, buddy, eat that or I'll open the window."

He sighed and dutifully took another bite, "Foggy, coming here is a risk enough."

"I beg to differ." Foggy said, "If someone was following you you'd know. Can't you hear every heartbeat between here and Stark Tower?"

Matt snorted, "No, and definitely not if I'm not focusing. I was pretty much all out of focus last night. I'm lucky that I hear yours better than anyone's or, well, it would have gone differently."

Foggy went still next to him, "What does that mean?"

That had probably not been the best thing to say. Foggy knew how close he had come to dying in his apartment but that didn't mean he needed the details of how close he had come on his way to there. "Nothing, really."

"Lying is a sin, Matthew."

He bought himself time by taking another spoonful of oatmeal. Foggy made a noise next to him that Matt was choosing to interpret as _I know what you're doing, you jerk, and it's working._

He shrugged once he finally swallowed, "I was trying to get to my place, is all. I just got confused."

"How?" Foggy pressed.

Matt felt a blush start to warm his skin, "I thought I was too far from home to make it so I kind of just sat down but then I think I heard your heartbeat and without really understanding I convinced myself that home was too close to give up… so I didn't."

Foggy stayed silent beside him and Matt really wished he would say something. He knew Foggy found the heartbeat thing to be kind of invasive. Would he be angry that Matt kept tracking his even after Foggy had kind of told him to back off of it?

Without even meaning to, he realized he was doing it again. Foggy's heart was beating hard. Anger?

"Please don't be mad." Matt blurted out, "I've been trying to do it less but after we lived together I kind of just… um…"

"You're telling me," Foggy cut him off, "That you were literally doing the 'curl up in an alley and die' thing but your super ears locked onto me and you thought I was your home and so you got up and _didn't die in the snow_ and you think I'd be _mad_?"

Well, if he was going to put it like _that_. Matt's blush was probably even worse, "I know you don't like me listening in."

"First of all, I don't like you silently using your lie detector skills and then not saying anything to me. I don't like that you didn't tell me you could do it." Foggy said in a choked sort of voice, "But you literally just told me you would have died if you weren't so aware of my heartbeat so please trust me when I say you keep right on listening and tracking me with it because I am not willing to deal with the outcome of you _not_ doing it okay?"

Matt let out a shaky breath, "Okay."

"I'm serious, Matty." Foggy pressed, "I'm not mad. I'm the complete opposite of mad."

"Are you sure? Your heart is beating really loudly." Matt said, just to test the waters.

Foggy laughed, "I wonder how many people you're misreading. My heart is beating weird because I'm having a retroactive heart attack about you last night. I am not mad."

Honestly, he was still a little skeptical but he had to trust Foggy was telling him the truth. His heart was already, as he said, _beating weird_ so it was kind of hard to tell.

An arm came around him and Foggy pulled him in closer to his side, "You still look all worried. Don't be, okay? We're fine."

Matt relaxed against Foggy, glad to hear him say it. He put Foggy through so much, too much really, but for whatever reason Foggy kept putting up with him.

"You too tired to finish that?" Foggy asked.

It took Matt a second to remember the bowl resting against his belly. "Kind of," He realized. The heaviness of his limbs hadn't really gone away but now he was feeling it even more. He couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up for an hour and then gone back to sleep but he was kind of up for it today.

"Claire said to let you get as much rest as you can, hopefully we can avoid you getting sick." Foggy said. The bowl was gently taken from his hand. "Lay back down and you can take a nap."

"I just woke up," Matt protested automatically.

"So? We were up half the night. I'm probably going to sleep too," Foggy yawned. "If you don't mind me sharing with you."

Matt had almost forgotten he was sitting on Foggy's mattress in the middle of his living room. "Sorry, I can help you put the mattress back and take the couch instead."

"Do you mind if I lay here with you?" Foggy asked again.

"No, of course not," Matt said.

Foggy stood up with their bowls. "Then I don't see any issue. Get comfy again and I'll clean up in here."

He was more tired than he'd realized. He slid back down into the covers and sighed. He was so lucky to have Foggy. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if he didn't have him, if Foggy wasn't such a good friend.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus his scattering thoughts. Foggy's heartbeat moved around the kitchen, turning on water and putting things back in their places. Matt listened absently and used Foggy to block out the rest of the sounds.

By the time Foggy slid under the covers next to him, Matt was nearly asleep. Foggy must have thought he was already, because he didn't say anything. He just stretched out alongside Matt and laid still.

His heartbeat and breathing started slowing into sleep and Matt realized he was slowing his own breathing to match Foggy's. He figured Foggy could hear his breathing too, so matching wasn't using his powers. Or was it?

"Stop worrying." Foggy muttered next to him.

Matt smiled just a little. Who was he to argue?

* * *

 _Feedback is love!_


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